Unknown Past, Unknown Future
by Element Guardian
Summary: Prozen had done the untinkable, he had experimented on humans. Lia is one of the few survivors who's running from her enimeis and her past, and ends up running straight into protection and love. TOC
1. Chapter 1

Hello, E.G. here. A little zoids fic I wrote about Thomas and a new friend of his. HEHE. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own zoids, but there will be several Characters that are mine. All mine

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 1

Unusual Meeting

A shield liger with critical damage fell down to the ground as it finally died. It had taken its passengers a couple hundred miles from the now abounded battlefield. The cockpit was roughly pushed opened and a young woman jumped to the ground. Her outfit was not fit for the dessert surroundings she was in. A black spaghetti strap shirt, a pair of jeans and a blue poncho like shall around her shoulders. As accessories, the girl wore black gloves, a black chocker necklace, plus a thin, silver chain necklace with a small sapphire hanging from the chain, and long silver earrings. Her long brown hair had been put into a sloppy bun with two chopsticks to hold it up. The only appropriate clothing item she seemed to have on were a pair of black sturdy boots that she had once stolen from an army base.

"I'm sorry for getting you killed like this, Ice Shield. It's been fun, and you've been a wonderful zoid,"

the girl told her dieing zoid.

Ice Shield growled. _Thank you for the adventures, Lia I'll see you on the other side. _The shield liger sighed and died.

"Sleep well," Lia whispered as she stroked Ice Shield' nose. "Wind Speaker we need to get moving before they catch us."

A large black wolf jumped from Ice Shield's cockpit. He had a pair of raven wings on his back and carried a large messenger bag in his mouth. Wind Speaker dropped the bag at Lia's feet and turned his head towards the fallen zoid. Wind Speaker bowed his head and said a quick, silent pray for Ice Shield. Then Wind Speaker turned to Lia. "I'm sorry Lia, I knew Ice Shield was one of your favorite zoids. I may not like zoids, but he was an excellent companion."

"Okay, we have two choices," Lia said, not fazed at all that the winged wolf had turned to talk to her. "We can head west for about fifty miles and get to the Red River Base where we can rest and then steal a new zoid. Or we can go a hundred miles north to the next town where we can try to buy a new zoid."

Wind Speaker nodded. "Cry for our fellow pack mate later. I smell more game to the west."

"To Red River Base then," Lia chirped while swinging the bag onto her shoulder. Both she and Wind Speaker knew that they would have a better chance at finding a better zoid if they stole one.

The two companions walked away, only looking back once at Ice Shield. When Lia stopped too long to look at her shield liger, Wind Speaker pushed her gently to get her moving again.

It was several hours, maybe half a day, when Lia noticed a damage zoid in the distance. "It looks like a DiBison," she whispered and ran to go check on the pilot.

He was an attractive blond hair, man. Lia recognized that he was part of a special Imperial unit, she could tell from his uniform; the two or three years she was forced to spend with Prozen helped distinguish this and his ranking, a lieutenant. A helmet connected to his zoid rested on his head. The pilot was also unconscious.

"Hello? Thomas? Answer me!" came from the radio. The voice sounded female.

Lia reached over the Imperial soldier to answer. "This is Lia, I found your friend unconscious."

"Where is your location," the woman on the other line asked.

Lia shrugged. "I don't know. This DiBison is too far-gone; I'm surprised that the radio still works. My own zoid is ruined and about twenty to thirty miles east. My guess is we're about ten to twenty miles east of Red River Base."

Suddenly Lia felt herself be pushed back. "Miss Fiona! I'm okay." Then the soldier began to give the coordinates to his and Lia's location.

"Rude much," Lia muttered rubbing where she had bumped her head.

"Lia is everything okay?" Wind Speaker called up. "Is the pilot awake?"

The Imperial soldier looked startled to see Wind Speaker. "There's a talking wolf with wings!"

"Windy," Lia yelled at her friend.

"That's right," Wind Speaker sighed. "I'm supposed to stay hidden until you give the signal."

"Help is on the way, Thomas," Miss Fiona said urgently.

Thomas looked from Lia to Wind Speaker. "I'll be dead by the time help gets here."


	2. Chapter 2

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 2

An Accident

Last Time: "Help is on the way, Thomas," Miss Fiona said from over the radio.

Thomas looked from Lia to Wind Speaker. "I'll be dead by the time help gets here."

Colonel Schubaltz and Colonel Herman arrived with a small group, which included Van, Fiona, and Zeek. The first thing they saw was a brown hair woman outside the DiBison, leaning against the hot metal. As Herman, the older Schubaltz brother, Van, and Fiona got closer, they realized she was a sleep.

"That must be Lia," Fiona said as she walked over and gently shook the woman awake.

Lia began to rub her eyes, mumbling words of nonsense. Pulling the chopsticks out of her hair and letting it fall loosely down her back. Continuing to mutter about something, Lia led the group to the other side where Wind Speaker was tormenting poor Thomas.

"What in the name of the God's of Zi is that?" Schubaltz asked.

Lia continued to rub sleep out of her eyes. "That's Wind Speaker. Leave the poor guy alone, Windy." When the winged wolf did not obey, Lia held her hand up and a blue lightning came out of her hand, blasting away the fingers of her black glove. The blue lightning hit Windy on the nose; it did no more than shocked him. "Behave!"

Everyone was in complete shock, but Herman managed to speak. "Who, no what, are you?"

At that moment Moonbay and Irvine joined the group. "Lia!" Moonbay squealed. Lia hugged both Moonbay and Irvine fondly. Wind Speaker stood up so his hind legs so that his front paws rested on Moonbay's shoulders. "Good to see you too, Windy," Moonbay said as she stroke the wolf's black fur.

Thomas was not thrilled to see Lia and Wind Speaker be treated like a friend. "I can't believe two members of the Guardian Force trust a person who was going to attack me."

"She wasn't going to attack you and I'm not a member of the Guardian Force," Irvine yelled back. No one had noticed that Wind Speaker had gotten back down on all four paws and was now sitting by Lia.

"So who is this Lia girl," Herman asked. "And where did she acquire powers like that blue light she shot out?"

"I'm more curious about that wolf, Wind Speaker," Schubaltz said. Lia was slowly backing away from the group. She didn't notice that Thomas was keeping a careful eye on her and Windy.

"Lia's a drifter. She doesn't just go up and tell you how she got her gifts or where she found Windy," Moonbay informed the group.

Lia shot off running, thinking everyone too preoccupied. Her blue shawl waved like a flag as Lia ran. Wind Speaker did not bother running; he took to the sky. Thomas ran after the woman. He stumbled and somehow grabbed her legs. Lia fell face first into the sand. When she looked up she saw Wind Speaker hovering in the air, trying to find away to help his friend, but reluctant to harm Thomas. "GO!" Lia yelled, and the black wolf followed the instructions.

The two Schubaltz brothers dragged Lia to her feet as she stared after her teammate. She didn't flinch when Karl forced her arms behind her back, didn't notice the cold steel around her hands when Herman handcuffed her, didn't realize that they wanted her to move and instead felt to her knees when Thomas gently pushed her to go forward.

Thomas hauled her back to feet and accidentally brushed one of her bare fingers. Quickly pulling his hand back with a yelp, Thomas looked at his burned hand. The material of his own glove had burned away. His hand had a minor burn, but it would still leave a scar. That pulled Lia out of her trance and moved away from the Lieutenant. She wrapped her bare fingers around the cuff that held that hand; as soon as the metal melted away from that hand, she repeated the processes to the other hand.

"I'm so sorry," Lia said. Like Wind Speaker, she did not want to hurt any one. "I should have replaced my glove, or at least warned you…"

Lia stepped closer to examine Thomas's injury. The clicking of soldiers turning off the safeties of their guns kept Lia in her place. Slowly she raised her hands in surrender. "Find away to keep hers hands covered and get her in the Whale King to be transported to Red River Base," Herman snapped. "Then we'll make sure we have some people's loyalties to us and not to some mercenary." The Republican colonel turned to the mercenary and the transporter who had done and said nothing to help with the capture of the strange woman named Lia.

Moonbay and Irvine were not surprised by any of Lia's actions of trying to get away from the group. She would show up somewhere and disappear as soon as she came. The reasons were countless why she left: sometimes it was because of Wind Speaker, other times because someone had tried to dig too deeply into Lia's past, most of the time it was because whatever she ran from was close behind. The burn from contact with Lia's bare hand did not surprise them either, Lia had many strange powers, but she was always careful to keep everything under control so no one would get hurt.

Soldiers kept on their guard as Lia replaced her ruined glove with a fresh one. They then led Lia to the Whale King that they had arrived in. When she was put in the secured room with soldiers standing guard at the door, Lia didn't know whether to cry because she captured or to laugh with joy because she knew she was safe, a feeling that was not listed among the feelings that Lia felt daily. She ended up doing both.


	3. Chapter 3

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 3

New Friends

Last Time:

Soldiers kept on their guard as Lia replaced her ruined glove with a fresh one. They then led Lia to the Whale King that they had arrived in. When she was put in the secured room with soldiers standing guard at the door, Lia didn't know whether to cry because she captured or to laugh with joy because she knew she was safe, a feeling that was not listed among the feelings that Lia felt daily. She ended up doing both.

The two who were guarding Lia stood at attention and saluted to Thomas. His hand had been bandaged when he entered the Whale King. "How is she?" Thomas asked the two men.

"She was laughing for awhile and then cried," one of the soldiers began. "We haven't heard anything for a while."

"Let me in," Thomas ordered. The men quickly obeyed. The room Lia was in was dark; it took a minute for Thomas to adjust to the dim light. When he had, he saw that Lia was in the corner. Quietly approaching her, Thomas saw she was a sleep. After a few tries, Thomas finally woke her up. "We need to question you," Thomas said as he placed a new set of handcuffs on Lia. She didn't argue just got up quietly and followed Thomas to another room.

In there Karl, Herman, Van and Fiona waited to question Lia. Thomas removed the handcuffs and gently forced her into a chair. Herman was the first to speak. "Who are you?"

"Lia."

"We know that," Van explained. "What we need to know is your full, or real, name, your date of birth, your place of birth, your age, the place where your home is, why you became a drifter, people you associate yourself with, where you got your powers…"

Lia didn't answer. Then Karl noticed she stayed silent so she didn't have to answer, so he tried a new approach. "When did you meet Wind Speaker?" The Imperial Colonel had a feeling that if Lia talked of her lone companion, she might answer some of their questions.

"I met Wind Speaker when I received my powers. He was a regular wolf back then. He got mixed up in some experiments and his DNA was messed with. The end result was Wind Speaker being able to speak and he grew wings. His pack left him and then he joined me," Lia explained.

Karl smiled. She had nearly explained her story to them while telling Wind Speaker's. He wasn't the only one who hadn't been experimented on. And in turn that explained how Lia got her powers. The end result: Lia could shoot blue lightning out of her hand, no one could touch Lia's hands without being injured, and most likely more capabilities.

Fiona caught onto Karl's plan. "What kind of experiments did they perform on Wind Speaker?" she asked.

"The scientist never wanted to do experiments on animals. Wind Speaker came into the lab one day and accidentally got something into his blood stream, so they decided to continue with him. I believe the experiments were to see if they could recreate the Ancient Zoidian race from normal humans," Lia continued.

Herman eyed the young woman. He couldn't believe some had tried to turn her into and Ancient Zoidian. "Who did this to yo…I mean Wind Speaker, and how long ago?"

"How long ago…I lost track how long ago those experiments were," Lia said. "As for who did them, it was the Empire."

"Prozen," Thomas growled.

Lia turned away from the people. "I didn't get Moonbay and Irvine in trouble, did I?"

"No, they explained why Moonbay called you a drifter. We didn't want them here because, like Irvine said, neither are apart of the Imperial or Republican army," Herman explained. "That and the fact that you're their friend, and we would have learned nothing from you because of Moonbay's big mouth."

Lia tried to stifle a laugh. She quieted when Thomas placed his bandaged hand on Lia's shoulder. "Who are you running from, Lia?"

"The Black Star Gang," Wind Speaker had answered. He had followed the Whale King to rescue Lia. Before he could cause panic to sweep through the Whale King, Moonbay and Irvine led him to where Lia was being questioned.

Herman looked at Lia. If you were an enemy of the Black Star Gang, you wouldn't live to see the next month. He wondered how long she had been running from them. "We are heading towards the capital of the Empire, but first you can show us where your zoid is so we can we retrieve it. When we get to the capital, we'll find a way to protect you."

Lia stared at the man who had just answered a prayer. The Imperial and Republican officers with Moonbay, Irvine, and Wind Speaker discussed what to do next. Lia fell asleep in her chair. "Hey, let's wrap this up, Lia just fell asleep," Thomas said.

Karl glanced at the young drifter. "Lt. Schubaltz please take Lia to the room we have ready for her."

Everyone left as Thomas tried to wake Lia up; Windy stayed with Thomas. Windy looked on in amusement while the frustrated blond began to muter torturing ways to wake people up.

"It's impossible to wake Lia at the moment," Wind Speaker finally said. "She is spent physically, spiritually, and magically." Thomas looked blank. Windy sighed. "A person has two different parts to him or herself, the body and the soul. Sometimes these two parts can work closely together, like during a battle or a big race. Most of the time they are not as closely linked. When you are physically tired, you simply over worked your body. Being spiritually tired means your emotions have run high and then dropped low. Lia walked half way to Red River Base from her wrecked zoid and those questions of yours have tired her spiritually."

"Magically tired?" Thomas asked.

Windy nodded. "Because of the experiments preformed on Lia, she can also be tired magically. In truth, Lia has been magically drained for a good month and a half."

Thomas sighed and gently picked Lia up, surprised by how light she was, and carried her to her new room. Windy followed close behind Thomas, as watchful and alert as an older brother. When they got to the room, Windy made Thomas remove Lia's boots, shawl, and black chocker necklace. After that Thomas was made to cover up the sleeping woman and then he was dragged out of the room by Windy.

Wind Speaker then gave directions to Lia's fallen zoid, Ice Shield. After the wrecked shield liger was brought into the whale king, Windy made sure no one came near Ice Shield as the wolf finally got a chance to mourn his fallen comrade, and wonder what the future might hold.


	4. Chapter 4

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 4

Painful Memories

Last Time: Wind Speaker then gave directions to Lia's fallen zoid, Ice Shield. After the wrecked shield liger was brought into the whale king, Windy made sure no one came near Ice Shield as the wolf finally got a chance to mourn his fallen comrade, and wonder what the future might hold.

The room was at first blurry and it was difficult to make out objects in the room until she blinked the sleep away from her eyes. Lia slowly sat up and looked around the room. She remembered falling asleep in the room Herman, Schubaltz, and the others had questioned her in.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Lia called as she stumbled out of her bed. A way too perky Moonbay and an observant Fiona entered the room. "How can you be so perky, so early?" Lia grumbled.

"It's ten in the morning, Lia. Not to mention you've been asleep for three days. The only thing that kept Colonel Herman and Colonel Schubaltz from sending you to the hospital wing was Windy," Moonbay said happily.

Fiona nodded with a smile on her face. "You would think Wind Speaker was your older brother the way he protects you, he would only allow Moonbay and me near your old shield liger to get your things. One man who tried to get close enough so he could examine the extent of damage of the liger nearly got bitten by Wind Speaker."

"Windy is nothing more than a big puff ball that has wings and can talk," Lia said with a smile. When she had first met Windy, she was under Prozen's rule. It was because of Windy that Lia had had the courage to escape from Prozen, and now Lia was encouraged to survive to see tomorrow because of Windy.

Fiona and Moonbay left so Lia could take a shower and change into to a new set of clothes that Moonbay had brought to Lia's room from Ice Shield's cockpit. She wore another pair of jeans. Lia then put on a long sleeve, off the shoulders shirt that was striped blue and black. She combed her long wet hair and let it hang loose. After Lia was dressed, she made sure her special black gloves and sapphire charmed necklace were securely on. Finally, the former drifter put a blue bucket hat on her head and her black army boots on her feet.

Lia then emerged from her room into the empty hallway. Suddenly the whale king lurched and Lia fell backwards. "Not used to a whale king landing?" Herman said as he stood over Lia. Lia scowled and held her hand up so Herman could give her a hand up.

The Republican colonel smiled. _"Smiles are contagious, Lia. Smiling is also a normal act so don't try to hide it with that mask you call your face,"_ Lia heard her mom say in her head. Despite herself, Lia smiled. Herman began to walk down the hallway. Lia had to jog slightly to keep up with Herman's brisk walk.

"So we just got to Guygalos?" Lia asked.

Herman nodded. "Yes. We were in Republican territory, even if it was so close to Imperial territory, not to mention Guygalos was on the other side of the country and we didn't really rush because you showed no signs of waking any time soon."

"Sorry, I normally don't tire so easily," Lia said with a blush. "It's just that I hadn't been getting much sleep lately and it didn't help that I did not have a good store of magical energy. I kind of wasted the little I had on the shock I gave to Windy."

"Don't worry, you'll no longer have to wonder every second where your enemy is," Herman said reassuringly. Lia brightened up considerably.

"Don't get her hopes up, Herman," Schubaltz said as he joined the pair. "Madame President and Emperor Rudolph would not hesitate to help Lia, but other political leaders aren't so generous." Lia's shoulders sagged as her smile fell; the brim of her hat covered her eyes so neither man knew she was crying.

It wasn't long before Lia was sitting outside a meeting room with Wind Speaker. The winged wolf was curled up by Lia's chair and was sleeping off a rather large steak. Lia didn't like all this time where she could sit and think.

"Amelia, you need to listen to me," Lia's father yelled in Lia's memory.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR LIES!" Lia winced at the words she had yelled at her father the last time she talked to him. Lia remembered slamming the door shut as she left her home. She had lived close to the Imperial border from her Republican home. So that's where she went, the Imperial.

"Would you like to dance?" an Imperial soldier asked Lia. She had gone to noisy dance club to drown out her troubles. Against her better judgment Lia danced, and then fell in love, with the Imperial soldier named Lance Shorting. He one day took her to the place he was instructed to protect. While there, Lia was captured and forced into the experiments, just like Prozen and Lance had planed. Lia waited as most of the other thousand human guinea pigs died and she was announced perfect, along with Windy and a few others.

"Why do you always look so pathetic," the kid people called Raven had once asked Lia. Raven was another one of the poor souls who got caught up in Prozen's game for power, but he was luckily never involved in the experiments. Lia occasionally spent time with the black haired kid and his organoid when they weren't destroying Republican bases and units.

"Why do you obey a monster like Prozen and how are you going to wash the blood that you've collected from your hands?" Lia had asked as she took one of Raven's hands in one of her own. He never answered her; Lia never expected an answer. That was the last talk Lia had with Prozen's favorite weapon.

"You know I had no idea that Prozen was going to do this to you, right?" Lance had asked about three years after the end of the experiments. Lia had become Prozen's weapon, like Raven and Wind Speaker, the wolf that had accidentally got caught up in the experiments. She stood rigidly as Lance hugged her.

"You know that your friends from the Black Star Gang bragged that luring Lia to the lab was your idea, right?" Wind Speaker said from behind Lance. The man turned around to tell the wolf off when Lia used her powers so Lance was knocked unconscious, giving girl and wolf a chance to escape.

"If you're going to survive in the dessert, you need water," the bandit called Roso had told Lia about two days after her escape. His gang had found Lia and Windy in the dessert. The gang was now taking the two runaways to a nearby town. "A zoid wouldn't hurt either."

"I don't know how to pilot a zoid," Lia had objected.

"You can learn," Viola pointed out. And that's just what Lia did; learn how to pilot a zoid.

"You're dwelling in the past," the present day Windy mumbled. The wolf had not been asleep, but simply lying down. "If you open up your powers you'll find a bit of a surprise."

Lia closed her eyes and opened her heart. A blue sparkle leaked from the girl and spread to the rest of the building. As the blue sparkled touched everyone unknowingly and exposed their inner souls to Lia. As she examined her new friends, she discovered their were several people added to the group, but only three new people seemed important to remember; Lia took careful time to match a soul with a face.

Thomas's inner soul was Lia's favorite. His soul was young and curious, compared to his older brother who's soul was older and set in it's ways. Thomas's soul was more of a thinker while Van's and Irvine's souls were more like warriors. Herman's soul showed him as a leader and then there was a man with teal hair –Lia remembered Moonbay mentioning a teal haired man named Captain O'Connell - who's soul showed him as a follower. However, Thomas had the ability to be both according to his soul. Fiona's soul was centered on her past; Moonbay's soul was centered on the future; Thomas's soul was living in the present.

"Stop drooling over Thomas and look farther!" Windy demanded. Lia obeyed and came across two familiar souls. They were rough in some places, old quirks were gone, and new quirks had replaced the old. However, the two souls were recognizable.

"Roso and Viola," Lia whispered. It would be nice to see the friends who had taught her to pilot a zoid and how to survive in the harsh desert life.

"Farther!" Windy said staring at Lia intently. Obeying again, Lia opened her powers even more and then lost control for a minute. She was mentally pulled to an old Republican officer. His soul was neither old nor young; it was a thinker and a warrior; it was a leader and a follower, like Thomas's; it thought of the past, the present, and the future in one confusing thought.

"It's a soul like mine," Lia said, trying not to cry. Windy sighed and shook his large head; he knew Lia was keeping something more. "It's my father's soul," Lia said as she began to rub her eyes, which were brimming with tears, and drawing back her powers. Windy waited patiently as Lia composed herself.

"Lia," it was Thomas, "we're ready for you and Windy."

Taking a deep breath, Lia made sure she had left none of her powers loose. The last thing she needed was to have powers on the run, especially when she had recently regained most of her magical energy. As she stood, Thomas offered a smile to the worried girl. Lia smiled as Windy began to stretch his body and wings.

"Ready?" Windy asked when he was done.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Lia whispered as Thomas led the pair into the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 5

The Plan

Last Time: "Ready?" Windy asked when he was done.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Lia whispered as Thomas led the pair into the room.

Everyone stared at Lia and Wind Speaker as they entered the room. Lia removed her hat and bowed gracefully out of respect for Madame President and Emperor Rudolph; her hair curtained her face. Windy scoffed, hating how humans worshiped their leaders, and laid down, showing disrespect.

"Be polite, Wind Speaker," Karl warned the rude wolf. Madame President hid a smile behind her hand and Rudolph was having a hard time containing a laugh. Lia straightened up and placed her hat back on her head.

Windy winced in pain as Lia pulled one of his raven feathers out of his wings. "Excuse Windy. I've spent enough time with him to know that he was leader of his pack and that wolves need to earn respect to be shown it through a bow. In Windy's opinion, the Republic and Empire have done nothing to earn his respect."

"What about you, Lia?" Madame President asked as she accepted Windy's feather from Lia.

"I'm Republican, I will always show it and it's leader respect," Lia said confidently. "The Empire…" Lia paused as she remembered the Imperial soldiers who were her friends while Prozen held her captive. The other leaders, besides Prozen, had seemed nice and sensible. "The Empire…I have respect for. I can not judge an entire nation by one man."

This shocked and pleased the people in the room. Madame President carefully looked Lia over as everyone else whispered amongst themselves. She defiantly had pride in herself and Lia didn't seem cocky either. It was the eyes that Madame President found familiar, serious blue eyes that had a sparkle to them.

"So how do we protect Lia from the Black Star Gang?" the teal haired captain asked.

"That's an easy one, O'Connell," Herman said with a smile. "She comes with us to the base we are all stationed at."

Madame President shook her head. "We need more information on Lia before we can place her in a base, and we've never had a soldier like Wind Speaker before."

"Lia won't tell you much. Irvine and I have tried for years to learn more about her," Moonbay exclaimed.

"How about you ask Lia what she wants and stop acting like she's not in the room," Lia said loudly. Everyone fell silent and turned to the girl. "I like the idea of being with my new friends. I am not entirely helpless and if you give me a zoid, I can do most things a normal soldier would. Windy will end up being helpful in his own way. As for my past, I'll think about telling you who I was."

"So what do we call you? Lt. Lia?" Rudolph asked teasingly.

Lia shook her head with a smile. "The Imperial unit Prozen made me work with had a nickname for me. They called me the Guardian Angel Warrior."

"Lia, G.A. Warrior," Van said. The Schubaltz brothers, Herman, and O'Connell nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget Wind Speaker, G.W. Warrior," Irvine smirked.

Windy snorted. "I prefer simply Wind Speaker."

While everyone was laughing Lia felt a red inner soul. Most souls were colorless, but hers and Fiona were colored because of their powers. Fiona's a pink and Lia's a blue. Lia turned a round to see a burnet man with spiked hair. He wore the uniform of an Imperial major. The man held up his bare right hand, showing off a gold ring with a small ruby. He left as quickly as he came.

"Shorting," Lia whispered so only Windy heard. The two quickly left the room.

Thomas was the first to notice. "Lia, Windy, where are you going." He didn't get an answer.


	6. Chapter 6

Unknown Past, Unknown Future

Chapter 6

Old Friends

Last Time: "Lance," Lia whispered so only Windy heard. The two quickly left the room.

Thomas was the first to notice. "Lia, Windy, where are you going?" He didn't get an answer.

Lia and Windy ran, following Lance's spirit. It suddenly disappeared and Lia was pulled around the corner. Windy was knocked unconscious by a red lightning.

"Long time no see, Lia," Lance said. He held Lia as if he was hugging her.

"You always were a show off," Lia said as she freed herself from Lance and went to see if Windy was okay.

Lance sighed. "You know I love you, right?"

"I would have never known," Lia said crossly. After making sure Windy would be fine, Lia calmly removed one of her own gloves and shot her own blue lightning, hitting Lance's shoulder. Lance looked so surprised that Lia had injured him with magic. Lia smirked. "Your little buddies in the Black Star Gang tell you I was completely out of magic? I've spent the last three days sleeping, recovering my magic and energy."

Before Lance could counter attack, Thomas's voice could be heard. Windy had regained consciousness and was ready to fight. Lance was smart and ran. Not bothering to go after him, Lia put her glove back on and waited for Thomas. Roso and Viola beat him to her.

"How are you?" Viola asked as she hugged Lia.

Lia was smiling happily. "Not bad. What are you two doing here? Not prison I hope."

"No, we're done with our bandit days," Roso said, as he removed Lia's hat, ruffled her hair, and then replaced her hat lopsided. "We're actually Emperor Rudolph's personal body guards."

"Lia, there you are," Thomas said as he came around the corner. He gave a quick scan to make sure Lia was okay. He didn't realize that Windy's fur was scorched and his right leg was injured. Roso did.

Lia rolled her eyes. "I felt Roso's and Viola's souls and went to go see them. I didn't know that it was a crime to go see the people who taught me how to survive in the desert. Jeeze, Thomas, did you think I was going to get in a fight?"

"I see, you're still an accomplished liar," Roso said when Thomas had left the four. "Come on, let's get Windy cleaned up. Whom did you run into, Lia?"

"Lance Shorting." There was silence until the reached an empty hospital room and Roso began taking care of Windy's leg wound.

"Be careful about him, Lia. He's a major now and can easily get you in trouble," Viola suggested.

"He won't hurt me," Lia said as she fiddled with the sapphire on the silver chain. "He wouldn't dare, unless he wanted some very embarrassing secrets released. Secrets that can put him in prison."

"Let's put him in prison, now," Windy mumbled. Lia had used her lightning to shock him before, but Lance's lightning had more power than Lia normally put into her own. If Lance had used any more power, Windy could've died.

Lia shook her head as she began to clean Windy's fur. "If we're going to be forced to play this game, we'll play it our way. Lance will end up getting himself in trouble, and we can wait."

Roso and Viola showed Lia and Windy the way to the hanger, where Lia's new friends were waiting for her near the Whale King. Also waiting for Lia was a new blue and black Command Wolf.

"What do you think?" Herman asked, knowing the answer because it was clearly written all over her face.

_Humans ask the strangest questions. My name is Ralph. Hey! You're blue and black just like me! Who are you?_the zoid said as it examined Lia.

"It talks to much," Windy complained. "Find a zoid more like Ice Shield."

"You can talk to zoids?" Karl wanted to know.

Moonbay answered when Lia didn't. "Lia and Windy talk to zoids. They'll do it pretty often, so be careful what you say around a zoid. For some reason they all love Lia. Ice Shield, Lia's old shield liger, was particularly fond of Lia and even Windy, who normally hates zoids and zoids hate him."

Ralph lowered his head and opened the cockpit. Lia slowly entered the new zoid and the cockpit glass closed when she was in. Several soldiers were loading zoids into the whale king and Lia piloted Ralph after them.


End file.
